


To Build a Home

by IMissYouSoFar



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Emotional Roller Coaster, Foster Care, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Self-Mutilation, Slow Burn, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-25 23:24:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6214321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IMissYouSoFar/pseuds/IMissYouSoFar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank Iero's mother has passed away. He has no say in what happens to him, and is put into foster care. His whole life has been hell, but when he meets Gerard. . .he thinks maybe things won't be so bad anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Keep The Faith

Frank Iero hadn’t had the best of times throughout his life. His father wasn’t around, and hadn’t been since he was six. Linda, his mother, was sick. And there was nothing to do but wait for the day to come. Frank didn’t know what would happen to him, or even what to do in the first place. One day, his mother told him what the plan was. They had no family, and nobody around there would be willing to take Frank in. He would be put in foster care until he was eighteen. By then, they both thought he would be able to support himself.

That was three years ago, and Frank was sixteen now. He’d learned to take care of himself and his mother. She had been getting worse lately. Forgetting that Frank wasn’t his father. Apparently, they looked quite alike. It didn’t help that his mom thought she was still a teenager herself, and tried to kiss him a couple times.

“Mom, it’s me,” Frank urged, turning away from her kiss. “It’s Frank…Frank as in your son.” It pained him to see her face fall as she recalled being left, but it had to be said.

“Where’s Frank? Where is your father?” She’d ask him, wringing her hands together. The nurse had gone for the day, and Frank was left alone with his mother. He tried to explain to her that he got up and left one day. He had told her this many times on a daily basis.

One day, Linda started to throw a fit when Frank brought her breakfast. She screamed at him, and told him to get out of her house. She didn’t recognize Frank even as his father anymore.

Frank threw his arms up to his face when she started throwing things. “Mom, _stop!_ I’m your _son!_ It’s Frank, Mom. . .” His mother had grown quiet. There was a cut on Frank’s cheek where the photo frame had gotten to. “Mom?”

Linda was crying, sobbing, crying soft apologies. “I didn’t mean to. . . I-I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” she mumbled, not looking up at him. Frank cautiously approached his mother, sitting on the edge of her bed.

“You didn’t know, Momma,” he whispered, only calling her that when he felt vulnerable. Like how he called her that when he was little. Linda gently reached up her hand and wiped away Frank’s tears. She almost seemed all the way there. She hadn’t had a moment of clarity this clear in years. Sometimes she would understand Frank was her son, but most of the time she thought Frank was her ex-husband.

Her fingers softly wiped away the blood on his cheek, and she looked him in the eyes. “I love you, Frankie,” she said, and Frank knew she understood who he really was. She hadn’t said that to him in a year. No matter how many times Frank said it to her.

Frank kissed his mother’s hand. “I love you too, Mom.”

That was the last time Linda ever remembered her son.

 

Frank came home from school to find that Linda’s nurse wasn’t in the house. Had his mother been alone all day? He panicked, looking around the house for her. She wasn’t in her room. He checked the bathroom, and she wasn’t there either.

“Mom?” Frank called, throwing his bag down. “Mom?” He said again, louder and more frantic than before. Frank checked the kitchen and the living room, stopping when he noticed the door to his room was open.

Slowly, Frank moved through the hallway to his room. He didn’t want to scare Linda. Pushing the door open, the boy saw a form in his bed. “Mom?” He whispered. There was no answer. Tears welled in his eyes, and he walked to his bed and pulled the cover off.

Linda lay lifeless, a photo album in her arms. “Momma, please,” Frank begged, kneeling down and touching her arm. She was so cold. She was not breathing. Carefully, Frank took her wrist and checked for a pulse. His mother had passed away.

 

() () ()

None of this was making Frank feel any better. He was at a group home for the night until Caroline, his social worker, could find a foster family. Frank just felt numb, his bag full of belongings next to him. He held his mother’s quilt, sitting on the bed. He couldn’t hear the other boys in the room. Eventually, the boy curled up and when to sleep with his shoes still on.

In the morning, Frank’s shoes weren’t on his feet. In fact, his shoes weren’t anywhere to be seen. A blond boy and his friend snickered when Frank tried to look for them. When he looked out the window, he saw his Converse hanging from a tree branch. Frank usually wasn’t the one to get emotional over anything, but this small thing just made him burst into tears. He missed his mom in all her crazy chaos.

Another boy was reading a book across the room. He was tall and lanky, with dark shaggy hair. He had a stone-faced expression when he looked over at Frank, until he saw the younger boy was crying. He looked over at the two boys who were laughing their asses off before approaching them. He didn’t know Frank. He didn’t know why Frank was crying, but he knew the two pricks had something to do with it.

The tall boy walked over to them silently, Frank noticed once he cleaned himself up a bit. Frank was shocked to see the tall boy punch the both of them before walking back to his bed. He picked up his book again, not looking at Frank. The boys were irritated now, but they seemed to know that the tall one wasn’t to be messed with.

Frank walked out to the hallway, asking the man running the place if he could go outside in the backyard. He was allowed to, but was stopped when Frank wouldn’t put his shoes on. That was the _only_ reason he wanted to go outside, to get his shoes. But he kept his mouth shut about the prank. He didn’t want to cause a fight.

When Frank returned to the room, he sat on the bed and realized the tall boy wasn’t in his space. It was a bit discouraging, but it was nice to be alone for a while. Everybody else was in different parts of the building, which was a large house. Every room that had been made into a bedroom had a capacity of four boys. So the most the house could have at one time was twenty people. It was all boys, too. When Frank arrived, he was advised not to make any friends because people came and left all the time. And he was told most of the boys were here because they couldn’t get along with their foster parents. He was told most had been caught up in legal situations.

Frank didn’t realize the tall boy had come back into the room until the boy spoke up. “I got these for you,” he said, his voice steady and calming. Frank saw his shoes being placed on his bed and smiled. The window was open, a breeze blowing into the room.

“Thank you,” he whispered, so exhausted and still feeling in shock from the week’s events. The boy actually smiled at him instead of his normal expression.

“Don’t worry about it, okay? I’m Mikey,” he said, glancing across the room as if he were waiting for someone to say something as well. But they were the only two in the room. It was only for half a second, but Frank could see Mikey’s face fall a bit.

“I’m Frank,” Frank replied, picking up his shoes and holding them closer. With that, Mikey nodded and went back over to his bed. He read the same book. Frank noticed that Mikey went back to the beginning again when he read the last page.

() () ()

The day Frank left, he was a little sad. He and Mikey had become close friends in the little time they spent together. To be honest, most of it was spent in silence. Granted, it was a comfortable quiet. They weren’t allowed to give each other contact information, but Frank had whispered his email to Mikey. Mikey whispered it back to him enough times and even spelled it out until it was memorized.

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to talk to you again,” Mikey said honestly. It was sad to depart, especially since Frank _had_ just lost his mom. Frank’s mother had been his whole world, and now he didn’t know how to go about his day without caring for her. He understood, though, why Mikey didn’t know. There were no computers allowed in the boys home.

Frank hugged his new friend tightly when they were alone, so they wouldn’t get in trouble. Just before he left, Frank pulled a book from his bag. It was one of his favorites, but he felt Mikey should have another book to read.

“This is for you,” he murmured, not wanting to get in trouble. Mikey’s eyes lit up. “I’ll see you around.”

Frank started down the stairs when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Frank, wait a second.” It was Mikey, of course. “Remember to keep the faith.” Frank smiled at the older boy and crossed his heart before going to meet his new foster family.

() () ()

His foster mother had helped Frank with his things. She reminded Frank of his own mom, and he tried to keep it together.

“Are you okay?” Angie asked in a gentle voice. Frank just sort of. . .broke when he heard, and he started to cry a little in the car. “Oh, sweetheart,” she whispered, giving him a hug. She rubbed his back and let Frank cry it all out before starting the car. When things calmed down a bit, Angie started talking about her household.

“My wife and I have adopted two children after fostering them for a while. My wife’s name is Shelby, and she works in an office. We have a dog-“

Frank couldn’t help but interrupt. “I like dogs,” he said very quickly, apologizing afterwards.

“No, no, it’s okay. She’s a beagle named Snooter,” Angie said, and Frank giggled at the name. Snooter. That was amazing.

When they pulled into the driveway, Frank noticed how pretty the house was. There was a garden outside. The porch had all sorts of statues and figurines. Snooter went crazy when Angie opened the door, excited to see that her mom was home. She started sniffing Frank’s things, and growled a bit at first.

“Hey!” Came a firm voice. “Snooter, don’t start.” Frank looked up and saw a teenage boy with black hair and hazel eyes. The boy smiled at Frank, and took his bag. “I’m sorry about her. She’ll warm up to you. She warmed up to Lucy pretty quickly.”

Angie walked over and greeted her son before leading the both of them down the hall. “I’m Gerard, by the way. I hope you don’t mind sharing a room with me.” Frank smiled at him, looking around at all the band posters. There were movies and CDs on a shelf, and a desk with art supplies on it.

“Gerard, I told you to clean up,” Angie informed. “I’m sorry about the mess.”

“No,” Frank said, smiling at Gerard when he was facing away. “This is perfect.”


	2. Seasick Yet Still Docked

Gerard hadn’t known what to think when he was told the family was taking in another person. A boy, Mom told him and Lucy. Mom and Momma were the nicest people ever. They gave Gerard everything he could ask for. Except for his little brother.

They had tried for so long to find Mikey, but they were never able to meet with him. It was awful, and stupid, and it made Gerard so angry inside that he had once punched a hole in the wall. He wasn’t angry at his mothers. He was angry at the legal system. Gerard just hoped his brother hadn’t been put in a home. Gerard remembered the book he used to read to his little brother when their mother and step father would fight. Or when he was scared in general. _The Hobbit._

Their step father was a terrible person. He did everything he could to get money for drugs. Hunter had sold Gerard out to his friends at least twice a week. Donna tried her best to ignore the way her oldest son limped around the house when he returned home. Mikey was always there, though. His little brother got scared whenever Hunter told Gerard he had to go out. Mikey was told his older brother was going somewhere special for the night. He knew better than that. The eight-year-old didn’t know exactly went on, but he knew someone hurt his brother.

Gerard would tell Mikey the same thing when he started to cry and beg for him to stay home. “No matter what, I’ll always find my way back to you.” He didn’t want their step father to hear Mikey, because he would only make things worse for the boy.

A year later, when Mikey was nine and Gerard was twelve, Hunter tried to get Mikey into that lifestyle. As soon as that happened, Gerard knew it was the last straw for them. Their mother wouldn’t do anything about it, so Gerard had to protect Mikey. The doors were always locked, but Hunter never bothered to lock the windows. Gerard brought his little brother into the room and locked the door quickly. He knew Hunter could easily break it, and the consequences would be even worse. The man might have even killed Gerard.

Mikey was frantic and started panicking when his brother told him they had to go out the window and on to the tree. “What if I fall, Gee?” he squeaked, pulling at his hair. “What if Hunter gets us outside?”

Gerard was trying to stay calm, glancing over at the book on the nightstand. He took it quickly and put it into Mikey’s hands. “Remember when Bilbo was scared to go into the Lonely Mountain because Smaug was there?” Mikey nodded. “And you remember how he made it out alive?”

“And Thorin, too?” Mikey said weakly, more like a question than anything else. Gerard smiled at him and kissed the top of his little brother’s head.

“Thorin made it, too,” he whispered, hugging his brother close before going to the window. Gerard had made sure his brother was wearing his warmest clothes. He climbed out onto the limb of the tree and was reaching out to Mikey when they heard angry footsteps.

_“What the hell?”_ Boomed Hunter’s loud voice. Mikey started to panic again when the doorknob was tried.

“Come on, Mikey, it’s okay. It’s okay!” Gerard urged, waving his hand out to his little brother. Mikey went to the windowsill and handed Gerard the book before dangling a leg out and finding the branch. Gerard tucked the book under his arm before pulling Mikey close. They started carefully yet quickly climbing down the tree.

As soon as their feet hit the ground, Gerard took hold of Mikey’s hand as tightly as possible and started running for their lives.

() () ()

Mikey begged to be able to go with Gerard. Gerard begged for the same thing, but unfortunately, it just couldn’t work that way. Siblings were separated all the time, and there was nothing anybody could do to stop it.

When it came time to go into different cars, Gerard crouched down and wiped his little brother’s tears. He held Mikey tightly in his arms, burying his nose in his messy hair. Gerard rubbed his back, and calmed him in the only way he could at this time. He gave Mikey the book, it’s cover worn at the edges.

“I’ll always find my way back to you, remember?”

() () ()

Gerard looked at the tiny patch on the wall that had been fixed. Lucy, his adopted sister, walked into his room. She knew she was allowed to then because his door was open. She was the same age Mikey was the last time Gerard saw him.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Gerard asked, always protective over her. She had been here since Gerard was fourteen, four years ago. Lucy was a beautiful little girl with skin the same shade as her brown eyes. Her hair was very curly, and it frizzed up a lot.

The small girl sat down on the bottom bunk next to her brother. “I’m scared that the new boy will be mean to me,” she said quietly, and Gerard tensed a little. She had been sexually abused like he had been. And not just from her family. There was some pervert in a foster home she had been put in who did a lot of inappropriate things to her. She was traumatized, and had a reason to be scared.

Gerard shook his head and gently reached his hand out to her. When she first came to their home, she was terrified of Gerard. That is until he showed her the dog he had gotten for his birthday. Snooter was a very loyal dog, and she learned to protect Lucy as much as Gerard.

“Luce, I promise he won’t ever touch you, okay?” Gerard whispered. “I wouldn’t ever let that happen. Snooter wouldn’t either, would she?” At the mention of her name, the beagle’s ears perked up a little from her spot at the foot of the bed.

Lucy shook her head and started petting the dog, smiling a little. She felt a lot better after Gerard vowed to protect her. He wouldn’t ever let her out of his sight, more protective over her than their mothers, in a way.

When Shelby knocked on the door, the two of them looked up. She was of Asian background, and was very beautiful.

“Yeah, Mom?” Gerard asked. He called Shleby Mom, and Angie Momma. It was a lot easier that way, in the means of communicating around the house.

“Momma went to go pick up our new houseguest. His name is Frank, and he’s a few years younger than you, Gerard,” Shelby said, and Gerard nodded. “His mother just died a week ago. . . Try to be sensitive to that, okay? He’s got nothing on his record at all. He took care of his mother in the last few years of her life.” The two of them nodded.

Mom looked at Lucy and walked into the room. “And he won’t hurt you, okay, my love?” She said softly, kissing the top of her daughter’s head. Gerard bit at his stubby nails with black polish on them. Shelby playfully hit him on the shoulder. “Stop that.” Gerard smiled at her, knowing that nothing bad was meant by it.

He didn’t have to worry anymore. Gerard was safe here. This was his home, his moms, his sister, his dog. . . Gerard never doubted that he was loved when he was with his family.

() () ()

Gerard heard the car pull into the driveway and ran down the carpeted steps. He had to admit, he was excited. Honestly, before Shelby had given Gerard the information about this new boy, he thought it could have been Mikey. Though he was a bit discouraged, Gerard never once thought about being rude to his new roommate.

Gerard knew Frank was around the same age as Mikey, and he longed to have a boy to mentor again. It had been so long. When Momma and Frank walked through the door, Snooter went crazy and he had to intervene. Gerard didn’t get a good look at Frank directly get, but when he did, he blushed a little.

Frank was cute; short with dark hair and hazel eyes. He looked very nice in general. The aura Frank gave off was warm, though Gerard knew there was a great sadness within him. All of the kids here did. All of them.

From the start, the family knew they would just be fostering Frank. They didn’t know for how long, but for the time being, Frank would be welcomed like family. He seemed to like his new room, even in its messy state. Gerard was never one for cleaning up much. Shirts were on the floor, some pants, and boxers in the mix, too.

But Gerard noticed that Frank seemed to really like the framed artwork on the walls and the CDs. He wanted to start on a new piece right away, something for Frank to have and keep.

“I love The Smiths.” Gerard was brought back into reality when Frank made the comment. He smiled over at Frank before getting up to put the CD on for him. Gerard then showed him the other albums he had, and some other bands. The two of them seemed to share similar interests when it came to music. Gerard had only been able to discover his music taste after he arrived in this household.

When a certain track played, Frank shrank down into himself and wouldn’t look up from the floor.

“What’s the matter, Frank?” Gerard asked, not wanting to upset Frank in any way.

Frank mumbled, “This was my mom’s favorite song.” Gerard pressed his lips together for a moment before reaching over to turn it off. “It’s okay. I’d really like to hear it right now.” Gerard nodded, being his old awkward self. He placed his hand on the younger man’s back and softly moved his fingers.

“I’m sorry about what happened to you,” he said, and dropped his hand. Frank went over to sit on the bed, and Gerard didn’t have the heart to tell him that the bottom bunk was his. He would keep his mouth shut and sleep on the top. The older boy felt almost guilty for bringing the mood down.

“She couldn’t remember who I was,” Frank whispered, closing his eyes. Gerard slowly sat on the foot of the bed, wanting to be there to listen. “Two months ago, she remembered for a little bit and it was amazing. She was sick for three years. . .but it all just happened so fast at the end.”

Gerard didn’t know what he could say, so he just offered his hand and nodded, letting the music be the only thing to fill their ears for a long while.

() () ()

When Frank met Lucy, she seemed a little freaked out, and he didn’t know why. Frankly, he felt a little self-conscious about the whole thing. She was hiding behind Gerard when they walked into the living room.

“It’s okay, Luce,” Gerard said calmly. Frank smiled at her, and walked over to them. “Frank, this is my little sister, Lucy.”

Frank crouched down a little and said hello. When he tried to reach out to shake her hand, Lucy flinched and that’s when it clicked with him. Lucy had been abused. She started to whimper and pulled on Gerard’s shirt tightly.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Frank said quickly, backing away instantly.

Lucy couldn’t calm down, and Gerard gave Frank a glance that sent a shiver down his spine. For a split second, it looked like Gerard despised Frank, and it scared the younger boy. He didn’t know. He honestly didn’t know, and he just loved kids. Frank just wanted to connect with the members of the house, but after that interaction, he remembered that he was the one intruding in their lives.

Frank had gotten upset, and it felt like everything was hitting him at once. He didn’t notice Shelby standing in the kitchen doorway, or Angie helping the small girl breathe slowly. Tears erupted rapidly, and he started up the stairs. “I’m really sorry,” he said, stumbling more apologies as he left the room.

Shelby seemed to notice the same glare Gerard had given the new houseguest. Frank heard her chewing him out a bit. “Gerard, he _didn’t know._ Lucy still can’t help the way she’s feeling, and that’s okay, but Frank didn’t do anything wrong.”

Frank curled up on the bed with his bag and shoes in his arms. He hadn’t even been in the house for three hours, and he’d already caused a huge disturbance that made Gerard hate him. He was sobbing, missing his mother when she remembered that she loved Frank. He missed the feeling of love and acceptance, and it was eating away at his spirit.

He really _was_ sorry. He hadn’t known Lucy would be so fragile. He didn’t have a damn clue how he was going to survive the world. Frank had been in the worst positions before, but they didn’t even come close to how he was feeling now.

“Frank?” Shelby called from the doorway. He was panicking even more than Lucy had been, starting to hyperventilate. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, Frank. Everything is under control, and you didn’t do anything wrong.” The woman who was filling the role of mother and caregiver tried to get Frank to face her. When he finally did, she pushed back the hair sticking to his face from the tears and started smoothing it.

“I-I didn’t m-mean to,” he said, embarrassed at the amount of times he had cried in the past week. “I really like Gerard, a-and now he hates me.” Shelby drew in a breath and rubbed the pad of her thumb over his cheek.

“Gerard’s just a big dummy sometimes,” Shelby told Frank, trying to comfort him. The boy couldn’t calm himself down, but eventually ran out of tears to be shed. Shelby stayed with him the entire time, making sure he was okay. It had been a long time since anybody had taken care of Frank like this.

() () ()

Gerard didn’t know what to do with himself. The boy who had been following him around like a puppy the whole day couldn’t even look up to meet his eyes during dinner. There was a special meal without meat, and Gerard didn’t know why his moms were serving this instead of their normal greasy, fatty fried chicken.

Frank had smiled a little bit up at Angie, telling her that he appreciated the meal and everything else he had been given.

“I didn’t know you knew I was a vegetarian,” Frank mumbled, gently puncturing the green bean casserole with his fork. He made a noise of satisfaction when he tasted it. “This is delicious.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just saw on your file that you didn’t eat meat, so I tweaked dinner a little bit,” Angie said with a warm smile. Gerard nearly barfed when he took a bite, wondering what Frank found so delightful about the food.

“You don’t have to make only meatless meals,” Frank mentioned. “I don’t mind others eating meat around me, I just eat whatever doesn’t have it in the ingredients.”

Gerard said, “Great, we should order a pizza, Mom.” Shelby looked over at her son with an icy stare.

“That’s a bit rude, Gerard,” she said before resuming with her chewing. “Your mother’s cooking is amazing.”

Gerard shrank down a bit and sighed. Usually, Mom was on his side about these things. Honesty, he didn’t say it to be an ass or anything, he just wanted to break the tension at the table. Only, the request only made things worse.

Lucy had calmed down and introduced herself to Frank without a problem. Gerard felt guilty for upsetting the younger man earlier, and was determined to maintain the friendship between them.

“It could have peppers,” he mumbled before pushing his casserole aside.

() () ()

After dinner was over, Gerard lay on the top bunk, staring at the ceiling. His CD was still playing, and he felt a little melancholy. He was thinking about Mikey again, and how much Frank reminded him of his brother. Then again, there were a lot of ways Frank was unique and it intrigued the older boy.

He knew it was wrong to think these things, since there was a three year difference between them. There was also the fact that Frank wouldn’t speak to Gerard or even look in his direction anymore. The boy seemed to love Snooter to death already. He had sat down in the living room and played with her for over an hour before disappearing again.

With a sigh, Gerard climbed down and decided he needed to use the restroom before he pissed in the bed. He needed to tell Frank eventually. . . Maybe he could get used to sleeping on the top, though. It really wasn’t that much of a difference.

Without thinking, Gerard opened the bathroom door before knocking, revealing Frank who had just gotten out of the shower. He was only wearing boxers, and was drying his hair. Gerard was like a deer in headlights, and Frank had paused, too.

“I’ll be done here in a minute,” Frank mumbled, not phased at all by Gerard seeing that much of his skin.

What Gerard was really worried about were the marks on Frank’s arms and thighs. Some were vertical and some were horizontal. The ones on Frank’s upper arms were red and irritated. Fresh. And then there were the marks on his thighs. Scars that ran deep and had been there for a long time.

“I-I. . . I can get you help about that,” Gerard said quickly. “There’s a nice therapist in the-“ Frank cut him off.

“I don’t need your help, Gerard.”

Frank pulled a shirt on and pushed past Gerard to get to their room. The older boy didn’t know what else to do but to stand in the doorway and think for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contact me:
> 
> Twitter: @illkissyoursis
> 
> Tumblr: frankieromorelikefrankmyhero
> 
> Kik: frnkieromstdie

**Author's Note:**

> Contact me:
> 
> Twitter: @illkissyoursis
> 
> Tumblr: frankieromorelikefrankmyhero
> 
> Kik: frnkieromstdie


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